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The Curotto Can Story

Patent # 7,210,890

The story behind the company and the owners.

15 years of "On-the-Route" Development

John Curotto and his father, John Sr., have developed a very successful approach to the challenges of going automated. It started with the Green Waste Program implemented by Sonoma County during the early 1990's.

John Sr. is a third generation hauler who had serious concerns about going automated. It meant a significant investment in more trucks and operators and the return was not assured. A fully automated side loader (ASL) was expensive if it broke down, no collection happened on the route.

From his long experience John Sr. knew that keeping equipment at 100% uptime was of prime importance. He thought that if they could mount an automated container to the front forks of their existing front loaders they would not have to make the investment in a new ASL. Also, if the cost of a front-mounted container was low enough, they could always have a spare on hand - thus keeping the truck on the route at all times. From personal experience working on the back of his rear loader, John Sr. also knew how often batteries, motor oil and other contaminants showed up in the waste stream. It was important to keep the waste stream clean in order to comply with the Green Waste Program.

Identifying contaminants was easy on a rear loader, but not possible on a standard ASL, as the dumping took place out of the operator's view. Here was a second reason to mount an automated container to the front forks - the operator could easily see what was being dumped. This enabled the operator to see and then remove the contaminants. In the early 1990's their first home built automated container was mounted on the forks of a front loader and out it went to work a residential route.

Success came slowly over the next year as they successively tackled each individual challenge. Eventually they could pick up 1000 plus carts per day on their own routes while maintaining the high level of reliability they needed.

Eight years later John Jr. felt ready to set up a demo project using the Curotto Can with one of the country's biggest waste haulers in one of the harshest environments - the desert. In 1999 John Jr. put a Curotto Can in Marino Valley, California. Working in blowing sand and 100 plus degree heat, the Curotto Can serviced on average 1500 homes a day without a single failure during the three and a half month trial.

The first year of production was 2000 with the Curotto Can I model. The year of 2004 saw significant design improvements being made to the Curotto Can I. The arm was moved to the rear for better weight distribution and increased smoothness of operation. Other improvements that year included special cylinder rods, fully sealed bearings and lowering the side opening to make hand loading of heavy items easier for the operator and simpler hydraulics with better protection. This model was dubbed the Curotto Can II. In 2008 a major reengineering effort was undertaken to increase the ruggedness of design and to make a series of design evolutions. This model was the Slammin Eagle. Last year saw the introduction of a series of Options most notably the Autocover and the Brush Kit which keep the route free of windblown debris. The Slammin Eagle is currently manufacured in Sonoma California.

John Sr. beside the first generation of the Curotto Can.

John Jr. at the controls of the new second generation Curotto Can with a rear mounted arm.

The original shop from which emerged the first home built prototypes of the Curotto Can.

Two early versions of the Curotto Can now in retirement.

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